St. John’s nears deal for base floors of 51 Astor Place

St. John’s University is steps away from signing a lease for two of the base floors of the 400,000-square-foot 51 Astor Place in Midtown South, the New York Post reported.

The Catholic university was vying for a 42,000-square-foot space on the second floor, but that deal fell apart. Edward J. Minskoff’s development is required by zoning to rent about 50,000 square feet to a school.

Fumihiko Maki designed the space, which is about $90 per square foot. Peter Riguardi, Paul Glickman, Mitchell Konsker and Cynthia Wasserberger of Jones Lang LaSalle are representing the developer. The property, which is vacant , had asking rents of $88 to $115 per square foot last year, the Post said.

With the addition of 51 Astor Place, the average Class A asking rent surged in Midtown South, and for the first time surpassed Class A asking rents in Midtown. Midtown South Class A asking rents hit $75.63 per square foot, besting the Midtown Class A asking rent of $73.63 per foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield figures previously reported by The Real Deal. [NYP, 2nd item] – Mark Maurer